“ i find broken things interesting. maybe that’s why i like you so much. ” from kaz!
more prompts for your feels.
@ruinatiion
"Oh, I'm flattered." There is no bite, even in her irony; Inej had well learned to use her teeth on those who earned it, but Kaz had never been one of them. I’d prefer you never became dangerous to me, he had told her in the very beginning, when she had seen herself as anything but. The truth is without his help she wouldn’t be; without his help, she may not have been anything at all. Yes, Inej had well learned to use her teeth, her claws, and not to cry over the damage done. Still, they would never be turned on him, not even in jest.
And for all her perceived offense, that is no more than jest. In truth, she is more than a little surprised. It is unlike him, to say such words so clearly. She was the spy but he had a preference for seeing without being seen; always so aware of others, of their feelings, even if just to know where to hit with precision, where to press for the desired results. Always so unwilling to risk others doing the same; and not without reason. Feelings were dangerous in their line of work. They had had the proof of that before, had they not?
Inej tried hard to be whole, to mend the broken pieces, to be one again. The truth was all the trying in the world wouldn’t be enough for that. The scars would stay, telltale marks of how shattered she had been. There were pieces too far gone, pieces of herself she could never get back.
Why would anyone like a broken thing? There were people -- lucky, blessed people, people she was glad for and envied all at once -- that would never what it was, to be marked too deeply for it to ever go away. Broken was difficult and messy, jagged edges that prevented others from getting close easily, too much history that made everything more fragile than it may seem. There were easier things to like.
Her dark eyes find his, unflinching. There were easier things to like, yes, but she knows it isn’t easy for him either. His edges are even sharper, his walls higher. If she thought it was pure curiosity he spoke of, the offensive interest of one who thought she needed fixing, Inej would be long gone. But it isn’t like that, not for them. He knows better than that. The recognition of that is in her half-smile. “Careful, Brekker. That almost sounded like an attempt at a compliment.”
